


All We Can Do Is Keep Breathing

by Silverstream16



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Coming Out, F/F, Lena is so understanding, Maggie would do anything for Alex, Poor Alex - Freeform, Sad, maggie is a gay mess, she doesn't deserve this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-19 23:18:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14883114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverstream16/pseuds/Silverstream16
Summary: Alex has been having a difficult time since her dad passed away, Lena notices her one day after class and warm heart to heart ensues. Followed by Maggie flipping out and being a gay disaster.Teacher/Student- DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THIS TYPE OF CONTENT





	All We Can Do Is Keep Breathing

**Author's Note:**

> Alex is Junior  
> Maggie is 23  
> Lena is 23  
> Everyone is a secret gay mess

“Please turn your homework in on my desk and make sure you remember to do tonight’s homework as well. Have a nice day guys!”

Lena clapped the chalk off of her hands as the bell signaled the end of the period. Without turning, Lena heard the students shuffle out of the chairs and flood out of her classroom, chattering animatedly with one another as they went to their next classes. Lena finished erasing the equations on the board and turned back to her desk to start grading today’s homework when she noticed a figure still slouched over their desk in the back of the room. She recognized the figure as Alex Danvers, one of her most talented and calculated students. She was a quiet student, always kept to herself and only ever spoke when called on. Her frame barely moved, almost as if she wasn’t breathing at all. Lena guessed she was asleep, although it was very unlike Alex to fall asleep in class. Of course Lena had heard about her father’s unfortunate passing, and would understand if Alex wasn’t getting much sleep at night.

“Miss Danvers?”

Lena called quietly to the girl in the back in a meek attempt to get her attention. To her dismay, Alex didn’t move an inch. She picked herself up from her chair, abandoning the red pen and stack of mostly sloppy equations on her desk and made her way to the girl’s desk in the back of the room. As she approached it became quite clear that the young girl was not sleeping as her posture was stiff and her breathing uneven. She had her head flat against the desk, her arms abandoned at her sides and she stared across the room with sad and tired eyes. Lena bent down to eye level, forcing the girl to look at her rather than staring at the wall. It was almost as if the girl didn’t even notice she just kept staring, even with the sudden change of her view.

“Alex honey, is everything alright?”

Lena hesitated a bit, not sure whether to reach out and touch the seemingly comatose girl in front of her. Fortunately, Alex blinked and readjusted her eyes onto Lena’s face, showing the first sign of consciousness in the last few minutes. Slowly Lena reached out and placed a hand on Alex’s back, the first sign of touch immediately made the younger girl stiffen. She lifted her head up off the desk and painstakingly slowly placed her head into her hands. Watching intently, Lena kept her hand slightly hovering over the girl’s back as she waited for another sign of movement. Out of nowhere, Alex snapped her head out of her hands and quickly shot up, startling Lena who then stood up once more.

“Sweetie what’s going on?”

Much to her dismay, Alex gave her an unconvincing smile and laughed before grabbing her backpack and heading towards the door.

“It’s nothing Ms. Luthor, I’m really sorry about that, it won’t happen again.”

“Hey! No, don’t apologize it’s okay, with everything you’ve been going through I’m sure you aren’t sleeping much.”

Lena immediately wished she could renege her last comment as Alex’s face faltered instantly and her eyes glazed over, her shoulders slumping and the color returning to her knuckles, which had been gripping the straps of her bag deathly tight. She quickly turned to leave but Lena was faster and she got to the door before Alex could.

“My apologies Miss Danvers, I didn’t mean to upset you, please sit for a minute I’d like to talk to you.”

“I have to get to chemistry, Miss Sawyer is expecting me.”

Alex nervously fiddled with the strap of her bag at the mention of Miss Sawyer’s name. This piqued Lena’s interest entirely; she knew something was going on between the two. Although unsure how she knew, it wasn’t as if Maggie constantly rambled on about her amazing and talented chemistry student, oh wait yes she did.

“I’m sure Miss Sawyer will understand, don’t worry I will get you excused. This is important anyhow.”

Lena beckoned the nervous girl to follow her to her desk. She grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and positioned it next to her own desk chair. Alex timidly took a seat, still gripping her bag quite tightly.

“Would you like to talk about it? What happened, because I understand Alex, I went through it when I was very young and I am here to listen if you need to talk.”

“I.. why? Why would you listen to me? I’m sure you have more important things to do than listen to me complain about my life.”

Lena was taken aback by the girl’s forwardness and shook her head quickly.

“Absolutely not, you are my student and you are more important to me than any work. I care for all of my students and their well beings and you should never be afraid to talk to me about anything okay?”

Alex nodded her head weakly and looked down, unable to look at the concern and pity in the older woman’s eyes any longer. She played with her fingers, refusing to look up. She could feel Lena’s eyes on her, but not in a scathing way, in a soft and gentle way as if saying _you can talk when you’re ready._

“I-I didn’t get to say goodbye to him. I fought with him t-the morning he.. I never got to say goodbye or apologize for what I did to him.. H-he died hating me..”

Lena could hear the pained quiver in her voice and she could see the tears dripping from her nose down onto her hands, her head hanging impossibly low. Lena felt the pain and the anguish Alex was feeling in that moment, similar to when her own father passed away. But she was stuck on one part of what Alex said. What did Alex do to her father and why would she think he hated her?

“Oh honey, I know it hurts, I lost my own father when I was your age and it took a long time to accept that fact. But you have to know he loved you okay? Your such a wonderful woman and that can only be a factor of such wonderful parents, your father could never hate you? Why would you think he died hating you?”

She reached out in an attempt to get Alex to look at her, to see her face and to show her that she understood the young woman’s pain. She clasped the girl’s one hand tight, although Alex still remained looking intently at her lap.

“He overheard me, talking in my room..I was alone and I-I needed to get something off of my chest and he heard.. He told my mother and th-they fought a-and yelled at me and Kara was the o-only supportive one.. My parents hate me..”

Lena pulled herself closer to the girl so she was sitting next to her and not across from her. She let go of the girl’s hand and put her hand on Alex’s shaking back instead. Still, she refused to look up.

“Do you want to tell me what he overheard? It’s okay if you don’t want to but it would be easier to understand if you did. I won’t judge you honey, I promise.”

She had a pretty good idea of what Alex’s father had overheard. It was no secret that National City was in favor of Proposition 8 and strictly prohibited any type of LGBT activity. Lena herself had qualms about moving to such a city, as she was part of the community herself and was not in favor of being discriminated for it. When she met Maggie it was almost a mutual understanding of one another and they immediately became friends, one another’s solaces in such a shitty place full of shitty people.

“I-I was talking to myself about.. A-about being..I.. I can’t say it you’ll hate me.”

Alex broke down, covering her mouth with her hands in an attempt to stifle her sobs. Lena’s heart broke once more and she said screw it to the rules and pulled the girl into a hug, cradling Alex’s head against her chest. The fragile girl held onto Lena for dear life, like if she let go, she would be sucked into a dark abyss. Lena let Alex cry against her chest, not caring about the tears or snot on her shirt, only caring for the wellbeing of the girl in her arms. Once her crying had calmed a little Lena felt her lips move on but was unable to hear what she had said.

“Sorry sweetie what was that?”

“I.. I’m gay…”

She broke down once more, sure that Lena heard her this time. She pulled herself from Lena’s arms and tried miserably to compose herself. She quickly stood, tears streaming down her face, sobs still wracking her body and made an attempt to leave.

“I’m s-sorry please don’t tell anyone, I hate myself for it, I want t-to change.”

Lena shot up and grabbed Alex’s wrist before she could walk away and she forcefully pulled the girl back into her body. Alex let herself go and collapsed to the ground, Lena quickly following. She gathered the girl’s body into her lap and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth. Her heart was shattered at the fact that being herself made her family hate her and made her so incredibly sad. She felt her own tears slipping down her cheeks and collecting near her lip, the salty taste of despair.

“Oh honey, oh.. It’s okay honey, it’s perfectly okay. You are still you, nothing can change that.”

Alex let out a loud sob, these were the words she waited so long to hear, just not expecting them from her AP Calc teacher. She pulled back from the embrace and finally looked her teacher in the eyes. Lena was staring at her with the most care and compassion she had ever seen anyone look at her with and it made her heart wrench.

“You are beautiful Alex, inside and out and you have a right to be completely and authentically you. You deserve your best chance honey; I understand what you’re going through, I went through it too, and here in this city, it is not easy but you are so incredibly strong for opening up to me about it. You are so brave and beautiful and you can’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise sweetie. You are not a disappointment or disgusting, you are extraordinary and wonderful.”

Alex finally smiled, albeit a watery smile, but she managed a smile for the first time in a week since her father’s passing. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders and she was so relieved to have someone that understood. She hugged Lena once more before picking herself up off of the woman (admittedly a little embarrassed) and helped the woman up.

“Thank you for listening to me, and accepting it. And I’m sorry for crying on you.”

“Never apologize for crying honey, you’ve been going through a lot and I completely understand. You can talk to me about this kind of stuff anytime you want as I know there aren’t many other options.”

Alex smiled graciously and wiped her eyes, checking the clock on the wall in the process. The period was almost over, she missed almost all of her chemistry class. She thought of Maggie and her heart skipped a beat, wondering if the older woman was thinking about her and why she wasn’t there. Lena almost seemed to read her mind in that moment and she grabbed her phone and sent Maggie a quick text.

_To: Dreamy Dimples @ 2:15_

_Alex Danvers just spent the last 40 minutes crying in my arms, she could really use you right now._

“Why don’t you take a seat and we can talk a little more, the day is almost over, no point in going to your next class now.”

Alex seemed to hesitate, clearly she wanted to see Maggie but she knew Lena was right, so she dejectedly took a seat at one of the desks in the front. Lena’s phone buzzed in her hand.

_From: Dreamy Dimples @ 2:17_

_Woah what??!?!?! One of the other science teachers is in here rn so I’m on my fucking way is she okay??? What the fuck happened Luthor???_

Lena almost laughed at how obvious her friend was, she clearly cared so much for the young woman, and not in the same way Lena cared for her. Lena cared for her as a student, and as a person and the girl meant a significant deal to her. But to Maggie, Alex seemed to mean the world. Maggie was falling head over heels for this girl, and as dangerous and illegal as it may be, Lena didn’t have the heart to tell her friend how wrong it was. She had never seen Maggie this enamored by anything, let alone anyone, before. It wasn’t long before the woman came barging through the door, startling Alex who let out an honest-to-God yelp. Though when she saw who it was, her features softened and she slumped in her chair, relaxed. Maggie raced over, not even acknowledging Lena, who grabbed her things and walked out of the room. She turned to see Maggie smiling, as Alex finally opened up to the woman and explained everything she had been feeling. She saw the glint in Maggie’s eyes, the little sparkle she only ever saw when Maggie was talking about Alex. It was her special glint, reserved only for her. She observed Maggie’s features, so incredibly soft and gentle, like Lena had never seen before, not even when Maggie looked at puppies. Alex had stolen all of Maggie’s heart in such a small amount of time, she was head over heels for this girl, and all Lena could do was sigh and shaker her head smiling lightly. She left the two to have their moment, silently praying they wouldn't have sex on her desk. 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow the was a rollercoaster of feels. Please leave a review if you enjoyed or have any critiques for me. Criticism is always welcome just please keep hate to yourselves.


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